Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning A Report to Our Citizens, State Fiscal Year 2012 OUR FOCUS: EARLY CARE & LEARNING In 2004, Georgia's leaders made a significant investment in the state's most valuable commodity; its' children. That year, the Georgia General Assembly created Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) by merging several state entities that served young children and their families, including the Office of School Readiness, units from the Department of Education, the Department of Human Resources, and TABLE OF CONTENTS Our Focus ........................................1 the Georgia Child Care Council. This new department was one of the first in the nation that was solely dedicated to meeting both the early childhood education and the child care needs of the state's youngest citizens. Our Services ....................................1 Our Programs .................................2 Performance Measures ................3 Finances ....................................4 - 5 Early education is valuable and important because a child's most significant brain development occurs in the first five years, forming the basis for future learning. DECAL's goal is to lay a solid foundation on which the academic success of Georgia's future leaders and workforce can be built. Investing in Georgia's children and families will pay in dividends for decades to come; through the state's long-term economic growth, and by producing citizens equipped to deal with the challenges of the 21st century. FY 2012 Accomplishments ...........6 FY 2013 Strategic Themes ........... 6 OUR PROGRAMS & SERVICES DECAL leads the state's efforts to serve children and families by administering services in the following four main areas: MISSION We are committed to nurturing Georgia's youngest children, keeping them safe and healthy, and to enriching their lives. Our nationally recognized Georgia's Pre-K Program is a lottery-funded educational program that helps prepare four-year-olds for success in school. Child Care Services licenses and monitors child care programs to ensure that they provide safe, healthy, and nurturing environments. The Quality Initiatives Division partners with internal and external resources to improve the quality of early care and education for children birth to school-age, and Nutrition Services provides nutritious meals for children and adults in day care settings throughout the school year and during the summer. 1 OUR PROGRAMS & SERVICES DECAL oversees a wide range of programs focused primarily on children ages birth to school age and their families. DECAL's responsibilities include the following: Administering the nationally recognized Georgia's Pre-K Program Licensing and monitoring center-based and home-based child care facilities Overseeing the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program and the Summer Food Service Program to provide nutritious meals to Georgians Housing the Head Start State Collaboration Office DECAL Commissioner Bobby Cagle visits a Georgia's Pre-K Program classroom. Photo Courtesty of AJC Administering the federal Child Care and Development Fund and state matching funds to increase the affordability and quality of early care and education by providing subsidized child care and other quality initiatives Administering Quality Rated: A systemic approach to assess, improve and communicate the level of quality in early education and school-age care programs Funding All Georgia Kids to provide free information and referrals for families seeking quality early care and education Providing technical assistance and professional development to early childhood educators and programs through the child care resource and referral agencies Offering support to families and early care and education programs who care for children with special needs Georgia's Pre-K Program increases school success in later years. Collaborating with Head Start , Family Connection Partnership, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Public Health, and Smart Start Georgia to blend federal, state and private dollars to enhance early care and education Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning "We are a transparent, timely and reliable resource to those connected to the care, safety and education of our youngest children." 2 PERFORMANCE MEASURES DECAL Performance Measures FY2010 Actual FY2011 Actual FY2012 Actual Child Care Services (Increase Compliance) Percentage of child care learning centers, group day care homes, and family day care homes that are 81% compliant with licensing rules Number of licensing, monitoring, technical assistance, and complaint investigation visits to child care learning centers, group day care homes, and family day care homes each fiscal year to increase compliance and raise quality 14,667 Pre-K (Increase Access and Quality Learning) Number of four year olds enrolled in Georgia's Pre-K Program 81,068 Percentage of classrooms implementing the Work Sampling System online to monitor and report student 9% progress Quality Initiatives (Improve Program Quality & Professional Development) Number and percentage of licensed, compliant early care and education programs participating in the n/a quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) to improve quality Percentage of INCENTIVES Program participants who increased their education level from the initial 10% credential/degree earned for which an INCENTIVES payment was awarded 88% 19,019 82,608 27% n/a 9.26% 92% 13,045 82,868 53.3% 751 (12%) 10.2% Nutrition (Increase Access and Meals) Number of meals served per year by providers in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) 86,001,243 85,200,000 80,667,591 Number of feeding sites per fiscal year for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), which increased as a result of focused outreach and training efforts 5,956 6,310 6,280 Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning "We work to empower parents with relevant and accurate information so they can make the very best child care and early education decisions for their family." 3 OUR FINANCES Services to citizens are provided through four major programs that form the structure of our financial accounting. Programs operate within their appropriated budgets and identified funding sources. Budgeted amounts must be adequate to provide legal authorization to spend funds, and revenues must be sufficiently available to cover allowable expenses charged to each funding source. 2012 Programs and Funding Sources Final Budget Revenues Expenses Child Care Services Federal 6,904,782 6,904,782 6,904,782 State 1,203,033 1,203,033 1,203,033 Other 16,526 19,211 16,525 Nutrition Federal 117,884,856 117,988,046 117,884,856 Pre-Kindergarten Program Federal 269,771 269,770 269,770 State-Lottery 300,691,000 293,691,000 289,222,657 Other 4,791 6,398 4,790 Quality Initiatives Federal 20,349,304 20,349,302 20,349,302 Other 32,608 32,608 32,608 Grand Total $ 447,356,671 $ 440,464,150 $ 435,888,323 2011 Final Budget Revenues Expenses 6,670,664 1,174,851 15,598 6,670,664 1,174,851 15,598 6,670,664 1,174,851 14,385 118,192,394 118,227,039 118,192,392 422,515 355,016,059 - 422,535 355,016,059 5,924 422,514 355,016,016 - 21,543,784 21,543,784 21,543,783 39,091 39,090 34,090 $ 503,074,956 $ 503,115,544 $ 503,068,694 Additional Collections on Behalf of the State Treasury In state fiscal year 2011, Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning implemented a fee for Child Care Licenses as directed by state law. Collected fees are designated to be submitted to the State Treasury along with penalty amounts collected from Child Care Providers sited for core rule violations. The following amounts were collected and submitted to the Office of the Treasury: 2012 2011 License Fees $730,733 $752,220 Penalties $55,590 $29,017 Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning "We believe investing in our youngest learners is critical to the long-term economic growth and potential of Georgia." 4 Results of Financial Audit The state Department of Audits and Accounts (DOAA) conducts an annual audit of the financial records of Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning. State fiscal year 2012 marked the tenth straight year that our agency has received a clean audit opinion from the DOAA. 2012 Budget Comparison State Federal $146,829,357 $145,408,713 $356,190,910 $301,894,033 2011 2012 $0 $100,000,000 $200,000,000 $300,000,000 $400,000,000 Agency Totals Funding Source Federal State Other 2012 145,408,713 301,894,033 53,925 2011 146,829,357 356,190,910 54,689 Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning "We support our teachers and providers. The quality work they do make them vital members of our team." 5 FISCAL YEAR 2012 ACCOMPLISHMENTS Engaged 12 stakeholder advisory groups, soliciting input from multiple levels to maintain open communications with the early care, education, business and faith communities. Achieved 10th consecutive year of clean financial audits Launched Quality Rated http://www.qualityrated.org/ Transitioned Georgia's Child and Parent Services (CAPS) Program to DECAL Launched Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards (GELDS) http://www.gelds.decal.ga.gov/ Celebrated Georgia's Pre-K Program's 20th year, and was recognized by the President of the United States in his State of the Union Address and a presidential visit to a Decatur early learning program STRATEGIC THEMES FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013 Health & Safety Promote safe and healthy early care and learning programs Quality Improve quality of early care and learning programs Organizational Excellence Foster organizational excellence through stakeholder engagement, enterprise solutions, and workforce development CONTACT US 2 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, SE Suite 754, East Tower Atlanta, GA 30334 404-656-5957 888-442-7735 www.decal.ga.gov www.twitter.com/gadeptearlycare www.facebook.com/brightfromthestart Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning "Our agency is dedicated to remaining flexible and nimble in order to keep us on the cutting edge of early education and improve upon our existing services." 6